In his best-selling book Radical, David Platt challenged American Christians to become radical followers of Jesus, in other words to actually do those things that Christians are supposed to do. In his newest book, Counter Culture: A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Poverty, Same-Sex Marriage, Racism, Sex Slavery, Immigration, Abortion, Persecution, Orphans and Pornography, Platt calls on Christians not to conform to the world's views on all of these issues, but to let their actions conform to the attitudes and teaching of Jesus and the Bible.
In one sense, this book is easy to describe. Platt is a conservative Southern Baptist pastor. If you know what conservative Christians in general, and conservative Southern Baptists in particular, believe about all the issues listed in the rather cumbersome subtitle, then you have a pretty good grasp on what Platt believes.
However, Counter Culture is more than a simple "what we believe" pamphlet. As Platt delves into the scriptural foundation for each of the stances he takes in the book, he gives a very personal spin. On each issue he tells how he has struggled to follow Christ's example. Further, he helps the reader by ending each chapter with steps to pray--suggestions for prayer time, to participate--ways the reader can be involved, and to proclaim--scriptures to mediate on regarding the issue of the chapter.
Overall, Platt maintains a very positive tone. He offers the hope of the gospel for those involved in sexual sin, for those struggling with materialism or poverty, for those in slavery. The weight of the issues he discusses began to feel very heavy, and our response, inadequate. But as he reminds us, "God alone is able to bear these global burdens." In his grace, he allows us to participate in his work.
There are a couple of points I thought worth mentioning. In his section on poverty, Platt states that "One of the primary ways we help the poor is through diligent work." He honors labor, specifically the use of one's skills and education to earn money one can use to assist the poor. He acknowledges that some will be called to forgo college or leave professional positions in order to work in direct service to the poor, but that we need people in a variety of professions to develop and sustain the economy and use their job skills in service to God. I was gratified to see him take this stance. In my review of Radical, I criticized him for implying that missions and work among the poor are higher callings than so-called secular work. In Counter Culture, he states the opposite. Well done. I'm sure my review at Amazon.com was very influential in his thinking.
Another interesting point Platt makes is some potential inconsistency, especially among younger Christians. He observes the zeal and activism among young evangelicals on issues such as poverty and slavery, but challenges them not to be silent on other issues like abortion and homosexuality. In light of the strong connections between sex slavery and pornography, Platt cites studies that indicate up to 90 percent of college males view pornography. "No matter how many red Xs we write on our hands to end slavery, as long as those same hands are clicking on pornographic websites and scrolling through sexual pictures and videos, we are frauds to the core." Powerful, convicting words.
Throughout Counter Culture, Platt never fails to keep the focus on Christ and the hope we have in him. We all have sinned, and are guilty of following culture on some or all of the issues he addresses. As we live to counter culture, we live to follow Christ. And as we do so, we recognize that the point is not to transform culture by focusing on these issues, but "by giving our lives to gospel proclamation--to telling others the good news of all God has done in Christ and calling them to follow him.
Here is a cool trailer for the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klvlzLs-LQw&feature=youtu.be
Also, Platt has a web site associated with the book. Here he lists additional "participate" resources, as well as a section where readers can share their own stories.
http://www.counterculturebook.com
Thanks to Tyndale and the Tyndale Blog Network for the complimentary review copy!
No comments:
Post a Comment